2015 Already Setting Heat Records

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The first three months of 2015 set new global heat records,
government officials announced today (April 17).

January, February and March set new
high-temperature records, respectively; each month was warmer
than any on the books since record keeping started 136 years ago.
March also ended the hottest 12-month period on record, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported.
Seven of the past 11 months have tied or set new record-high
monthly temperatures.

In March, Earth's average temperature was 56.4 degrees Fahrenheit
(13.6 degrees Celsius), breaking the previous record set in 2010
by 0.09 F (0.05 C). The Japan Meteorological Agency also put
March in first place, as the hottest month ever in its records,
while NASA put it in third place, behind 2010 and 2002. Yet, all
three agencies agree that the 12 months to date are the hottest
ever. [ Fishy
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Giant blobs of warm water in the tropical and northeast Pacific
Ocean helped boost 2015 to the top of the rankings, according to
the NOAA climate report. Like a pot of boiling water on a stove,
the warm seawater radiates heat into the atmosphere and raises
the planet's average temperature. The global average temperature
includes measurements over land and ocean surfaces.

Because these warm-water pools are predicted to persist through
year-end, more heat records could fall in the coming months. In
the tropical Pacific, the warm water is linked to an ongoing El
Niño, the cyclic phenomenon that shifts global weather. NOAA
forecasts a 60 percent chance that the El Niño will last through
fall.

March 2015's new record high was a bigger jump from the global
average than records set during previous El Niño years, in
February 1998 and January 2007, NOAA reported. The
average March temperature over land surfaces across the globe was
2.86 F (1.59 C) above the 20th-century average.

During March, California saw record warmth, as did parts of the
western United States and Canada, according to the report.
Scandinavia, northwest Russia, south central China, northeast
Australia and eastern Africa also baked under high temperatures,
NOAA reported.

The only place on Earth with notably
cooler-than-average temperatures in March was northeastern
Canada. Despite the record-breaking snow and chilly temperatures
along the Atlantic Coast earlier this year, no state set a new
cold record in the first three months of 2015, according to NOAA.